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February 4, 2025, 7:40 PM
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memeorandum
WeSmirchTop News
| Alphabet Inc: |
Alphabet Q4: revenue up 12% YoY to $96.47B, net income up 28% to $26.54B, Google Services revenue up 10% to $84.1B, and Other Bets revenue down 39% to $400M — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - February 4, 2025 - Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG, GOOGL) today announced financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.
| Todd Spangler / Variety: |
Alphabet reports YouTube Q4 ad revenue up 14% YoY to $10.47B, vs. $10.23B est.; together, Google Cloud and YouTube ended 2024 at a $110B annual revenue run rate — YouTube, the internet's biggest streaming video platform, delivered a healthy 13.8% increase in global ad revenue …
More: Adweek, Business Insider, Search Engine Journal, Sherwood News, The Desk, The Wrap, and Deadline
| Washington Post: |
Google drops language from its AI Principles that said it would not pursue AI applications “likely to cause overall harm”, such as for weapons and surveillance — In 2018 the company updated its policies to explicitly exclude applying AI to weapons. Now that promise is gone.
More: TechCrunch, Wired, The Keyword, Engadget, Neowin, CNN, Bloomberg, and Semafor
Bluesky: @mguariglia, @sambiddle.com, and @nitasha
Forums: Hacker News and Slashdot
| Ian King / Bloomberg: |
AMD reports Q4 revenue up 24% YoY to $7.66B, Data Center revenue up 69% to $3.86B, vs. $4.09B est., and forecasts Q1 sales of $6.8B to $7.4B, vs. $7.04B est. — - Results suggest the chipmaker is still lagging behind Nvidia — Company fares better in PC market, making gains on Intel| Juli Clover / MacRumors: |
Apple debuts Invites, an app to help plan events like birthdays, graduations, and more, with Image Playground and Writing Tools tie-ins, for iCloud+ subscribers — Apple today announced the launch of a new app called “Invites,” which is designed to allow users to plan events like birthday parties …
More: Apple, 9to5Mac, Business Insider, The Verge, USA Today, Six Colors, PCMag, Engadget, Stephen Robles on YouTube, 9to5Mac, Bloomberg, iThinkDifferent, ZDNET, Brian Tong on YouTube, VICE, Yanko Design, Gizmodo, zollotech on YouTube, How-To Geek, Philip Elmer‑DeWitt, Appleosophy, CNET, Cult of Mac, Supercharged, 9to5Mac, CNBC, BGR, MacStories, Pocket-lint, T3, GSMArena.com, Trusted Reviews, TechEBlog, TechRadar, iDownloadBlog.com, MacRumors, Apple Must, T.H.E, AppleInsider, 9to5Google, The Apple Post, TechSpot, Moneycontrol, Forbes, Livemint, TidBITS, MacRumors, SlashGear, Macworld, Redmond Pie, The Sun, Digital Trends, Neowin, MakeUseOf, TechCrunch, Android Headlines, Thurrott, MobileSyrup, Tom's Guide, AppleInsider, MediaPost, Fast Company, and Phone Scoop
Threads: @camwilsonreporter, @diegojimenez, @chris, @benedictevans, and @tookthescenicroute
X: @concept_central, @gregjoz, @jordanmorgan10, @snazzylabs, @markgurman, @dylanmcd8, @brandonbutch, @justinryanio, @samhenrigold, @dylanmcd8, @devongovett, @snazzylabs, @raywongy, @basicappleguy, @apollozac, and @maxwinebach
Forums: r/ios, r/apple, and MacRumors Forums
| Financial Times: |
Sources: China is looking at launching a formal probe into Intel; a source says whether such a probe is officially launched could depend on US-China relations — Beijing seeks leverage against US president by reviving investigations into tech giants — China has revived antitrust investigations … | Josh Xiao / Bloomberg: |
More: The Register, PBS NewsHour, TechCrunch, South China Morning Post, Android Headlines, Wall Street Journal, Wired, CNET, Global Competition Review, TheTruthAboutCars, The Wire China, Semafor, GB News, Reuters, Xinhua, and The Guardian
Forums: r/politics, r/worldnews, and Slashdot
| New York Times: |
Sources: the US SEC is moving to scale back a special unit of 50+ lawyers and staff members that had been dedicated to bringing crypto enforcement actions — Some in a special unit of 50 lawyers and staff members that had been assigned to regulate cryptocurrency are being reassigned in the agency.
More: US Securities …, Bloomberg, The Block, CoinDesk, Bitcoin Insider, and Crypto Briefing
X: @craigguriannyc and @daveweisberger1
| Mike Masnick / Techdirt: |
Elon Musk accused an X user, who named federal staff in a post X then removed, of “a crime”, showing what actual government social media censorship looks like — For years, we've watched self-proclaimed “free speech warriors” hyperventilate about imaginary government control of social media content moderation.
More: 404 Media, CyberScoop, Engadget, CNN, Slate, Fox News, Interesting Engineering, Singal-Minded, NPR, Raw Story, Yahoo News, Forbes, The Verge, and Blockonomi
Bluesky: @molly.wiki, @molly.wiki, @whstancil, @junlper.beer, @noturtlesoup17, @kenwhite, and @mmasnick. Mastodon: @stevenbodzin@thepit.social
X: @pmarca, @elonmusk, @aaronbaileyart, @quadcarl_carl, @jonfavs, and @armentaylor
Forums: r/thedavidpakmanshow, r/EnoughMuskSpam, r/EnoughMuskSpam, r/KeepOurNetFree, and r/politics
| Elizabeth Lopatto / The Verge: |
More: The Atlantic, CNET, Techdirt, Cautious Optimism, Associated Press, and Wired
Bluesky: @kylierobison.com. Mastodon: @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social. X: @elonmusk, @mattlesser, @rwpusa, @rajgoyle, @socdoneleft, @andrewkrok, @chrismegerian, @meidastouch, @ashleyschapitl, @jdcmedlock, @besttrousers, @sturgeons_law, @ericgeller, @joshtpm, @kylascan, @buddingmonkey, @alx, @angry_staffer, @flyosity, @mattyglesias, @ctjlewis, @dylanmatt, @nateberkopec, @dancow, @joshtpm, @growing_daniel, @coryfromphilly, @tim_walz, and @tszzl
| Ryan Christoffel / 9to5Mac: |
The Iconfactory debuts Tapestry for iOS and iPadOS, bringing Bluesky, Mastodon, RSS, YouTube, and more into one timeline, with a $1.99/month tier to remove ads — The Iconfactory, makers of the now-discontinued Twitterrific app, have today launched the spiritual successor to their Twitter client.
More: App Store, TechCrunch, How-To Geek, and iDownloadBlog.com
Mastodon: @gedeonm@mastodon.social and @skaeth@writing.exchange
| Juli Clover / MacRumors: |
Apple raises the monthly AppleCare+ price for iPhone users by $0.50 in the US and will only offer one-time AppleCare+ purchase options in its online store — Apple this week increased the prices for its monthly AppleCare+ subscription prices for the iPhone, raising the cost by 50 cents for all models in the United States.
More: 9to5Mac, iThinkDifferent, The Verge, iPhone in Canada Blog, Tom's Guide, BGR, 9to5Mac, Digital Trends, AppleInsider, and Pocket-lint
| Jess Weatherbed / The Verge: |
Adobe adds “contract intelligence capabilities” to Acrobat's $4.99-per-month AI Assistant, letting the PDF manager summarize complicated language in contracts — The new contract surfaces key terms and dates within complex agreements. — The new contract surfaces key terms and dates within complex agreements.| Olivia Reingold / The Free Press: |
Andreessen Horowitz hires ex-Marine Daniel Penny, who was recently acquitted in a controversial NYC subway chokehold case, to work on its American Dynamism team — “Daniel acted with courage in a tough situation,” said partner David Ulevitch in a statement explaining the hire.
More: TechCrunch, Bloomberg, and The Information
Bluesky: @lopatto. X: @luke_metro, @zebulgar, @samfbiddle, @lindayax, @bariweiss, @kylekashuv, @jack_raines, @mikeisaac, and @mikeisaac. LinkedIn: Dominic-Madori Davis
| Arasu Kannagi Basil / Reuters: |
Austin-based SailPoint, which sells identity management tools, and parent Thoma Bravo aim to raise up to $1B in SailPoint's US IPO, targeting a $11.5B valuation — SailPoint said on Tuesday it was targeting a valuation of up to $11.5 billion in its New York flotation, as the cybersecurity firm looks … | Dominic Preston / The Verge: |
Opera launches Opera Air, a free browser focused on mindfulness and mental well-being, including break reminders and ambient soundscapes, for Windows and macOS — Opera Air offers break reminders, ambient soundscapes, and breathing exercises, all in your browser.| Rebecca Bellan / TechCrunch: |
Memo: Cruise lays off “approximately 50%” of its staff, after GM cut robotaxi operations funding and shifts its focus to tech like hands-free driver assistance — Autonomous vehicle company Cruise is laying off “nearly” 50% of its workforce — cuts that extend to the CEO and several …
More: CNBC, PYMNTS.com, San Francisco Business Times, PCMag, Gizmodo, GM News, Bloomberg, SiliconANGLE, Transport Topics, The Verge, Engadget, Reuters, Axios, Detroit Free Press, KRON4, NBC News, Sherwood News, and The Last Driver License Holder
Forums: r/SelfDrivingCars, r/wallstreetbets, and Slashdot
| Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch: |
ByteDance researchers demo OmniHuman-1, an AI system trained on 19K hours of video from undisclosed sources and that appears to beat prior deepfake techniques — Researchers from TikTok owner ByteDance have demoed a new AI system, OmniHuman-1, that can generate perhaps the most realistic deepfake videos to date.| The Information: |
Sources: Meta is merging Facebook's and Messenger's teams into one unit and shuffling its generative AI group, as it prepares for company-wide layoffs next week — Meta Platforms is merging the teams behind Facebook and Messenger into one unit as the company prepares for layoffs across the business next week.
| Daniel Kuhn / The Block: |
Bitcoin Ordinals project Taproot Wizards raised $30M to expand work on OP_CAT, a scripting capability for Bitcoin to enable automated, customizable transactions — - Bitcoin Ordinals project Taproot Wizards is raising $30 million in a round led by Standard Crypto.| Foo Yun Chee / Reuters: |
The EC releases its prohibited AI practices guidelines under the EU's AI Act, like using AI to track employees' emotions or to manipulate app and website users — Employers will be banned from using artificial intelligence to track their staff's emotions and websites will not be allowed …
More: TechCrunch, European Commission, Financial Times, and Digital Trends
X: @luizajarovsky, @vtchakarova, and @bertuzluca
| Bloomberg: |
Sources: the head of the US AI Safety Institute, Elizabeth Kelly, is set to leave by the end of the week; Kelly was appointed to the position in February 2024 — - Biden-appointee Elizabeth Kelly helped shape US policy — Trump seeks to shed rules to boost US dominance in AI
X: @thedataroom
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